The Farr Side: With rock ‘n’ roll, devil is not in the details

Thursday

Every once in while, a topic comes up and I instantly feel my temperature begin to boil. I hate when people talk about rock ‘n’ roll as “the Devil’s music.”

Devil’s music, really? The person who calls it that obviously is ill-informed or follows a belief system has gone astray from teachings of the Bible.

This is nothing new, of course. Some people have long thought of rock music as being ungodly. I used to hear my mom talk about how Elvis Presley could be shown on TV only from the waist up, because it was thought his pelvic gyrations might lead to perversion.

It probably didn’t help matters in the mid-’60s when John Lennon said the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” His remark was misunderstood. He was merely commenting on the level of the band’s fame at the time.

The topic has been brought up again in conversation recently. It centered on music, movies, and the arts, and how it all leads to the devil.

I almost had to excuse myself from the discussion, because I was about to get mad. I’m a huge lover of music and nothing about me speaks of the devil. For crying out loud, I wear sweater vests to work almost every day. I just happen to like to jam.

Music will always be a major part of my life. It’s been my saving grace ever since I was a kid. That doesn’t mean I put my love for music before my love for Jesus Christ, though.

I can tell you just about every milestone in my life and the music that surrounded each. The most prevalent came when I was extremely ill. My music was just about all I had to keep me afloat. My stereo was on day and night. I could listen to songs like I had never listened before. It was an escape for me when my body had let me down. Sometimes, I would sing right loud with Michael Jackson, Prince, Axl Rose and Bono. It was healing for me.

You know I love and write about all genres of music. A cool person can find something good about it all.

Musical expression is a combination of lyric and melody. God gives us all a talent to which we seek in our lives. It’s up to us to find our talent and utilize it. Musicians are artists who have a unique ability to entertain us. And, for the most part, they’re doing so in a productive manner conducive with Christian values. I truly believe that. There will always be somebody who ruins it for all. But, guess what, you don’t have to listen to them.

I’m often reminded in these conversations about singer Pat Boone’s 1997 album, “I’m In A Metal Mood.” Boone had been away from secular music for a while at that time, but returned with what caught a lot of people off-guard. The album was Boone’s way of showing people that many of the metal songs they had complained about, in fact, were Christian-based. Boone covered such rock gems as “Paradise City” (Guns N’ Roses), “Enter Sandman” (Metallica), “Stairway To Heaven” (Led Zeppelin), “Smoke On The Water” (Deep Purple), and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (Alice Cooper) to name a few.

If you don’t understand the power of music, you’re probably a lost cause. It truly is the universal language. Notice the next time you’re in a large group of people you don’t know and a song begins to play. People from all walks of life, who may have few common interests, will stop and listen and maybe start dancing. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know them, for that moment you’re friends like that. How can that be bad?— David T. Farr can be reached at farrboy@hotmail.com.